Living in the Spirit
July 5, 2021
Scripture Reading:
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19
David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. David and all the people with him set out and went from Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who is enthroned on the cherubim. They carried the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart with the ark of God; and Ahio went in front of the ark. David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. –2 Samuel 6:1-5.
I have no idea how Israelites danced, but I always envision Native American fancy dancers when I read that the Israelites danced with all their might. The indigenous dancers are mesmerizing to watch. Such artistic dancing grew out of the tribal preparation for, or celebrations of a good hunt or battles won. David and company were celebrating the attainment of enough peace to return the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem from being stored to preserve and protect it. Such events were community building, what people of faith recognize as oneness. Jesus called us to be one*. I fear our hold on oneness is very fragile. We have been invaded by the evil of divide and conquer. While we see actual divisions, I sense we are more caught in inertia, concerned that making any movement might start a chain reaction. I have heard we are close to civil war again being spoken.
I am reading Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book Team of Rivals that documents the events surrounding the Civil War of the19th century—a good book. What I notice most about the description of this time and its politics is that greed did not rule politics then as it does today. Slavery is essentially a sin of greed. The abolitionists were in general concerned about the immoral nature of slavery itself. The pragmatic politicians were trying to hold the nation together. The slave states were trying to maintain their economy, of which slavery was already an accepted, engrained necessity.
Every day I delete a trove of emails and text messages asking me to send $3 or $5 or $25 or whatever I can afford because, if I do not contribute, some horrid bill will pass, or some desperately needed legislation is going to fail. Our democracy is being bought and sold, and we seem helpless to stop it. Of course, I only get the requests that relate to my political persuasions. I am sure others are receiving the same type of propaganda aimed at the opposite viewpoint. On July 31, 2015, Jimmy Carter said that the U.S. Is an ‘Oligarchy With Unlimited Political Bribery’**. While at the time I thought he might have been overstating the situation, I no longer think he did.
How are people of faith to respond. Inertia is clearly not the answer. Answering God’s call to oneness is the vision for which we strive. The first step is recognizing we need to take it. We need to seek God’s guidance in finding common ground for the Common Good and not stop until it is realized, for it will never be bought.
Prayer: Lord, forgive us for trying to go along to get along. Free us from any hold greed has on us. Give us the courage to work toward oneness. Amen.
*See John 17:20-23
**https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/jimmy-carter-u-s-is-an-oligarchy-with-unlimited-political-bribery-63262/
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.